Tourism

The British Columbia Assets and Land Corporation (BCAL) with Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks (MELP) administer the Commercial Recreation (CR) policy for the purposes of authorizing Crown land use by commercial tourism operators.

Commercial recreation applies to all forms of outdoor recreation activities carried out on provincial Crown land (including Crown land in a provincial forest and Crown land covered by saltwater and freshwater) on a fee-for-service basis. This includes commercial mechanized ski guiding, commercial hunting and fishing, commercial snowmobile touring, commercial recreation activities that require the operator to construct or place improvements on the foreshore (e.g. wharves and floats, commercial horseback tours, etc.).

The SC Plan may be used to identify commercial recreation opportunities, and to direct the present and future use of Crown land in a specified area. A commercial recreation plan should identify available Crown land, indicate the associated uses that would be considered within each area, and provide a balanced context for delineating those parcels which would not be offered for development.

As an example, many commercial operators in the plan utilize horses in backcountry areas. Concern has been expressed regarding the potential for overuse of natural forage in the vicinity of frequently used camps or stopping points. Through a CR application process, intensive use of sites that have previously exhibited serious forage deterioration, or that are proposed to receive high levels of use, will be identified for special management through the Operating Area Management Plan. This Operating Plan forms part of the commercial operator’s tenure. Management options should include that alternate feeding requirements should be arranged with consultation between Ministry of Forests (Range), Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, and local range tenure holder(s) because of concern over the importation of noxious weeds or foreign species.